The embodiments herein relate generally to eye masks or sleep masks used by individuals to enhance sleep quality.
Individuals often wear sleep masks over their eyes to improve sleep quality in bright light locations. One common problem faced by these individuals is the diminished sleep quality experienced when traveling on moving vehicles such as airplanes, automobiles, trains, or the like. Motion of these vehicles causes the individual's head to sway side to side, up and down. This prevents the individual from falling asleep and/or negatively affects sleep quality. This motion causes the individual's head to deviate from a neutrally aligned position, thereby causing the individual to suffer neck pain and/or injuries.
Several head restraint masks exist to secure a user's head to a seat such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,607,245 and 8,239,987, and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0041091. However, these head restraint masks are difficult and/or awkward to use because they comprise bulky components or are not easily adjusted. Further, due to the bulky design, individuals may be unwilling to use these masks on a public vehicle due to the fear of being embarrassed.
As such, there is a need in the industry for a travel support sleep mask apparatus that effectively secures the user's head in a stationary position and addresses the limitations of the prior art.